Great Hopes, Greater Expectations

After a successful global run, singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad brings his world tour to India

- By DEEPALI DHINGRA

The thing Prateek Kuhad finds challenging and exciting about live tours is the unpredictability. With over 800,000 followers on Instagram, he is one of India's leading singer-songwriters, who caught former US President Barack Obama's attention with his single cold/mess which the former president included in his playlist. Kuhad is currently on tour in cities across India as part of the Silhouettes World Tour. "Touring can be a little taxing because one is constantly travelling from one place to another and has to be really adaptable since anything can happen in a single day-from technical snags to finding a quiet hotel to stay overnight, or just the anxiety about the show going well. The moment you start looking at it with a 'let's see what happens' kind of attitude, it might turn out to be an adventure!" he shares a musical outlier's philosophy.

Born and raised in Jaipur, Kuhad is comfortable singing in both Hindi and English. He shot to global attention when he released his debut album In Tokens & Charms in 2015 and got the Best India Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2016. In 2018, EP cold/mess debuted at number one in India.

His concerts are sold out, where thousands of fans sing along with his soulful tracks that often speak of love, loss and life like his idol Elliot Smith, though Smith's arcane music has a dark streak that has spawned a legion of fans. "I see people just looking up and smiling at me or crying